Holiday ArtWalk on Friday

The Holiday ArtWalk in Downtown Billings will occur from 5-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, in conjunction with the Christmas Stroll.

Galleries and businesses will open their doors and welcome ArtWalkers to enjoy art, refreshments and a festive night with friends and family, in the heart of the city.

Visit www.artwalkbillings.com to download a copy of the map in order to plan your evening’s stops.

Ceramic artist and owner of 504 Square Feet Studio Cassy Krafton Kramer has designed a 4-inch tall ArtWalk mug with a red speckled glaze and with the classic ArtWalk logo stamped on the front. They may be seen and purchased at Toucan Gallery and Kennedy’s Stained Glass Studio. They sell for $20. Visit Facebook (Billings ArtWalk) to see images of the art that will be on view at the ArtWalk stops..

Galleries and their holiday exhibits will include:

• Ev Bergeron will be presenting her latest artwork during the month of December at CTA Architects & Engineers. Her watercolors include a series of aspen trees, Crow Indians, Montana landscapes and modern art pieces.

• The Holiday ArtWalk at the Northern Hotel will feature several artists with work in a wide range of mediums: printmaker and photographer Ashley Prange, ceramic artist from 504 Square Feet Cassy Crafton Kramer, landscape painter Ben Stringer and his wife, Helen Tolliver, with her hand-crafted copper jewelry, contemporary Native American painter Allen Knows His Gun, printmaker and illustrator Steve Kuennen representing Buffalo Art Press, lapidarist Cindy Lou Smith and glass artist Cheryl Robinson from Mountain Magic Designs with her handmade glass jewelry and dishes. The artists will be located throughout the hotel lobby and gift shop. Their chef will feature signature appetizers during the ArtWalk and TEN will feature signature drinks and cocktails.

• Big Sky Cheap Tees will host Aaron Nathan, a self-taught painter, illustrator and designer living in Billings. His primary influences are abstract expressionism and comic book art. He will present a collection of acrylic and marker illustrations on wood along with a series of iPad and iPod drawings printed on aluminum.

• The Apple Gallery at the Good Earth Market will present “Earthworks,” highlighting the artistry of Bob Rickels. He will give a short artist’s talk at 6:30 p.m. The Deli Café dinner special will be served from 4:30-7 p.m. along with live music by Scott and Kris Prinzing (Rickel’s daughter). The exhibit will be up through January. For the past 14 years, Rickels has been an active Yellowstone Art Museum docent. He is always ready to give tours, present art suitcases, attend events and meetings, or just wander the galleries studying the art.

• Q’s Art & Framing returns to ArtWalk and will include paintings in the main gallery by Barbara Butler, Laura Flemming, Cheltsie Jones, Grace Bailey, John Langliers, Charly O, Elliott Eaton, Jayme Mitchell and photography by Dan Armstrong, Peter Herzog and Mike Jennings. Art from the classes being taught at Q’s will also be on view.

• Billings’ ceramic artist, Tana Patterson, will be showing new work at Global Village. The work, both wheel-thrown and hand-built, is highly functional while maintaining a painterly individuality.

• Juliane Lore of the Lore Law Firm has partnered with Sidney artist Jerry Cornelia to support the RiverStone Health Foundation in their December ArtWalk event. The law firm will provide the exhibit space at 2921 Second Ave. N. (between Kennedy Stained Glass and Sandstone Gallery) and the artist will donate a percentage of his sales on ArtWalk to RiverStone Health. Cornelia, well-known to the Billings art community for his paintings of women with a flamboyant wedge of orange hair and an irreverent attitude, will also include new cast sculpture and multimedia pieces. Cornelia grew up in Sidney and is primarily a self-taught artist, who sold his first painting before he had a driver’s license. After moving to New York City, he painted mannequins and designed store windows. In 1995 he returned to his hometown and has been working from there ever since. In 2006 the Yellowstone Art Museum did a retrospective of his work titled “Wit & Wisdom.”

• McCormick Café will host father and son artists, Bill and Paul Arbizzani, who will show pastels, watercolors, and acrylics in the Holiday ArtWalk show. Bill, a student of Ben Steele at Montana State University Billings, has been painting for 50 years. Paul, a graduate of MSU in art, is a former art teacher.

• Sandstone Gallery will feature gallery artists Andy Anderson with his aeronautical watercolor paintings and Donna Moore with her oil and acrylic paintings. Guest artist will be Laura Anderson. An artist since her childhood days, she was constantly in trouble at school for drawing her teachers and fellow students. In her late teens and early 20s, she concentrated her portrait work in clay and bronze. For the past 20 years her concentration has been on painting. Laura will be accepting commissions at the exhibit. Family portraits are wonderful heirlooms and make priceless gifts for the holidays. Her works can be viewed at www.LauraMarieAnderson.com or by calling (406) 794-9519 for an appointment at her studio at 2706 Minnesota Ave.

• Barjon’s Books will welcome Wyoming-based artist, Karyn Dunbar, with a reception. Her work is in the Yellowstone Art Museum, the Bradford Brinton Museum, the Washakie Cultural Center in Worland, Wyo., and in personal art collections in most of the 50 states. Well known for her interpretations of both ravens and crows which both have a long history tied to myth and history. Almost all cultures have fascinating stories about the birds and Dunbar uses them to create metaphor and social and political comment in her artwork.

• Toucan Gallery will present new work especially suited for the holidays. New pottery by all of Toucan’s ceramicists will be on display, along with new small works by Toucan’s painters, and a wide variety of artisan-crafted goods, including jewelry, letter pressed stationery and greeting cards, photography, printmaking, collage, textiles, and glass. Toucan will also hosting the six artists who had their art work chosen to decorate the downtown electrical boxes as part of the Downtown Billings Association’s latest public art project. These artists- Lynn Thorpe, Louis Habeck, Charlotte Kelley, Andrew Hauck, Tyson Middle and Vincent Sanchez-will be in attendance from 6-8 p.m. in the gallery. Refreshments will be served.

• Jason Jam will be hosting The Mini Show. On display will be Jason’s small format oil and watercolor compositions. A special feature at the gallery will be original watercolor minis. These minis come with a Mylar protective sleeve, white frame card and envelope. With mini prices, these mini pieces are an excellent opportunity for fans of Jason’s artwork to acquire watercolors for themselves or as gifts for friends.

• Across the hall from Jason Jam in the historic Carlin Hotel, ArtWalkers can stop in the studio of Billings artist Susan Germer (susang) and view her new fine silver jewelry creations, colorful watercolor notecards, photography, bead embroidery, and pastels. Her studio will also be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the following day, Saturday, Dec. 7. Her work may also be seen at the Purple Sage Gallery, 2511 Montana Ave.

• By mid December the entire space at 2511 Montana Ave. will be gallery. Along with the expansion is a name change to R Tompkins Fine Art. In addition to the art, the gallery will feature audio, lighting, theater equipment, and set up by StudioSky. A grand opening is scheduled for January.

• Emily Davidson will be the artist honoree at the Underground Culture Krew for the Holiday ArtWalk and through the end of December. Machining for the car industry in Detroit and working as a cosmetologist in Montana are two ends of the diverse spectrum of Davidson’s background. Currently she is working on a series of dancer portraits “Movement in the Modern Day” and also a series of “Selfies#” which will both be on exhibit for ArtWalk. Other gallery artists include Kristin Rude, Emma Prosser, Jenna Martin, Nic Beckman, Michael Beaumont, Miriam Cross, Crystal Reicker, Gloria Mang, and Tina Jensen.

• AMERICAN CHIC, a still-image and video collaboration between Marcasa Clothing, photographer Kenneth Jarecke and Chute Media will be on view on the second floor of the historic Stapleton Building above Marcasa Clothing. This event melds world-class fashion photography with visual installations of place, space and light. It opens at 6 p.m. and should not be missed!

* Rock Creek Coffee Roasters will host local painter, Sarah Morris. Known for her dynamic colorful acrylic paintings of the Montana landscape, she will have on display winter scenes and some warmer weather scenes too. Her handmade greeting cards will be for sale.

Morris finds her inspiration in all four seasons that Montana is so lucky to experience annually.

She hopes fellow Montanans, as well as visitors, can feel the temperatures in her work and relate.

* Stephen Haraden will open up his studio to show new work including “Nature Walk.” Stop by to visit with Steve and view his new angel series, along with other works in progress.

* Kennedy’s Stained Glass will have its 2013 Annual Ornaments ready for ArtWalkers. Also come in and view a large commission piece for the library at the University of Montana, Western.

* Catherine Louisa Gallery welcomes Jane Waggoner Deschner into the gallery with 14 “works with found photographs” now on display. As Ms. Deschner describes these pieces, “There are three elements in this work: embroidery, vernacular photographs, and famous quotations. All are equally significant, and I rely on the interplay among them to provoke an ironic sensibility.” She recently completed a fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and is a member of the Montana Art Council.